Digital Shoptalk
Digital Shoptalk
Episode 9: Chris Jones of CANarchy
This week, Alex Porter hosts Chris Jones, Brand Director at CANarchy, the craft brewery collective that includes Oskar Blues, Wild Basin, Cigar City, Wasatch, Squatters, Perrin and Deep Ellum.
Chris details his approach to marketing for the six breweries, each positioned in a unique market, with unique beers to offer. His goal? To hit the craft beer consumer with the right message at the right time. You'll also hear about Chris' career path in digital and his advice for people getting started in the field.
And a quick plug: the refreshing, flavorful Dale's Pale Ale has been available in a can for 20 years now - find some here.
Hey, welcome to this episode of Shop Talk the Podcast. Today, your host is Alex Porter with location three. And we have an awesome guest today I'm very excited to announce Chris Jones is joining us from Ken archy. Brand director at Ken archy. If you want to add a Twitter, follow at Mr. Christopher, which is what I call him whenever I see him, Mr. Christopher, and welcome to the show. Yeah, thanks for having me. I'm stoked.
Chris Jones:Well, let's just dive right in. Tell me about give me the 62nd elevator pitch of your digital career that's brought you to today. Yeah, so I got my start helping bands with their MySpace pages. And, and then realized that I kind of had this interest in digital marketing. So then started kind of as a social manager, worked at location three for a fair amount of time and then kind of bounced around to in house and an agency gigs but then ultimately landed at kind of my my dream role, which is focusing on digital at a craft room.
Alex Porter:It's kind of an amazing story and a position that I'm sure many people are jealous of. Do you know actually I have a pop quiz. So we're both Denver based, as good as mentioned. He, we he and I worked together many moons ago. So a Denver based trivia question for you, which local public high school did Kyle Freeland and Machine Gun Kelly attend?
Chris Jones:It's not easy, is it? It's not.
Alex Porter:I feel like that's a fake answer. Because if it was, then you would have gotten it right. So but if you want more, I'll give you one more. I'm gonna go with like, Regis Jesuit. No, Thomas Jefferson High School. Oh, yeah, I was with I was at the Rockies game the other day with my oldest son and Freelon was pitching and he was like, yeah, do you know this guy went to TJ I was like, No way. You said yeah. And machine gun. Kelly is what an odd pairing of a local local celebrities. Yeah. I'm not sure which one I'd rather rather claim, frankly. Right. I think um, that's a good good trivia question, though to pop on people. So speaking of the Colorado Rockies, I know you are a fan, even though you've removed all fandom references to most of your accounts, but what's your outlook for the Rockies for this year?
Chris Jones:I gotta be honest, I haven't watched a single game. No. And I have no plans on watching a game. Maybe they'll they'll, you know, suck me back in. But for right now, I haven't watched a single game.
Alex Porter:So you're sticking to your guns. You're sticking?
Chris Jones:At least right now. I'm sure I'll be a hypocrite later. Okay. All right. They uh, you know, it is still just a fun experience to go to the ballpark even if it is.
Alex Porter:Even if we even if we have issues. I think my my, my beloved Orioles are probably in the same boat, if not worse, but yeah, it's great. Plus, you can get some great beer there. So I shouldn't be too negative about it. So speaking of beer, tell me about can archy
Chris Jones:Yeah, so can our craft brewery Collective is a collective of six breweries kind of scattered across the country. You know, in Colorado, our home base is Oskar Blues out of Longmont. But then part of the collective is cigar city. And then as well as parent in Michigan, and then we have Deep Ellum out of Dallas, and then squatters in Wasatch to Utah. So it's kind of this really fun collective of regional and national brands. So it's really rad to kind of work on a large spectrum.
Alex Porter:And so what does that mean collective? Is that kind of like a cooperation is it?
Chris Jones:Just yeah, so we're, we are, you know, the, like, the canopy collective owns all of the individual breweries, but we work together as a team. So like, our sales team is is, you know, one commercial team across the board. You know, we do have different brand folks at the individual breweries and obviously their brewers at those burgers breweries and, and packaging folks, etc. But, but, you know, we are one company that kind of operating in various levels of, of the market.
Alex Porter:Gotcha, gotcha. And so, there you are officially, according to LinkedIn, brand director and previously the digital marketing director. So can I assume that kind of all marketing is falling under your purview currently,
Chris Jones:right now, we have a little bit of a of the week We have a little bit of a disconnected marketing strategy where we want to maintain a lot of local control on the individual breweries. You know, we don't want a campaign coming out of cigar city to feel like a campaign that a parent could have come up with. So I honestly acts, frankly, in a lot of ways as a consultant among all the other breweries, you know, there's some things that are that are definitely more my purview than others. But I really do try to work with with folks as a team rather than, you know, kind of dictating. You know, what, what gets done? Yeah.
Alex Porter:Interesting, super interesting. I mean, there is as you as you look at it, and you think about it, there's obviously the different brands, and then within those brands, the different do you call different beer flavors, flavors, whatever you call styles of the different styles? seltzers? You can call flavors, but beers or style, or is that? Would that be an accurate description?
Chris Jones:Yeah, we usually look at it like at the brewery level, and then the, the individual beer level. So like, you know, you've got Oskar Blues, and then a brand would be a beer like Dale's Pale Ale, or, you know, or double Dale's or what have you.
Alex Porter:Gotcha. And then on top of that, you have the actual physical locations that people can go in and sample said, said, Where's Yeah, and then the events is that kind of what you're, when you talk about the local level ownership is the kind of the promotional events or individual location content that's coming out. That's what they're focused on primarily,
Chris Jones:on some levels, but we also have a brand director that say, is on site in Longmont, or on site in in Utah. And so they're really charged with really owning that brand, and really kind of bring it into fruition with whatever, you know, form makes sense for them. Because, you know, the market in Salt Lake is quite different than that in Michigan, or Dallas, or what have you.
Alex Porter:Yeah, for sure. And so how do you, you know, how do you keep track of it all? How do you how do you make all of this activity that's occurring? How do you know, I guess what marketing is doing? And if it's working in your, in your world, what working means?
Chris Jones:Yeah, I mean, historically, you know, our digital program was, I mean, literally, when I started, the digital marketing plan was boosting Facebook events, and boosting posts. And certainly, you know, that gets us somewhere, but but not everywhere. And so, we've really had to evolve over time. And I need to understand, you know, from a reporting aspect, what, what are like what the sales folks need when they're talking to a distributor? That's different than what I need to look at. So looking at, frankly, a bunch of Google Data Studio dashboards to your to bring in, we mostly focus on the on the paid side of that with that with, you know, with those dashboards, but to at least understand, you know, something from either impression to traffic or what have you. But then, you know, moving into this year, we're gonna, we're starting to look at some IRI studies to really nail down the sales impact. I'm working with my internal team to do the same as well.
Alex Porter:Alright, so now I have to ask, fate, can you name a favorite beer? Or is that even like, naming a favorite child? Are you are you able to say,
Chris Jones:no, yeah. Yeah, I mean, I have been a huge fan of Dale's my entire beer drinking life, it seems like I've had a Canna Dale's Pale Ale on my desk for the better part of a decade that I've used as a pen holder. Such a classic, just it has a special place in my heart, but like, highlight is fantastic as well. And one of the most phenomenal beers I've ever had. But frankly, I was just in Austin last week and I had some Cadillac bandido from Deep Ellum and it's like an amazing amazing beer and and it was great to have so you know, it's it's a little bit like picking kids but but but at the same time there's definitely some favorites for sure. Yeah, I'm
Alex Porter:actually I'm I've been scrolling around your site and just looking at these Beer pairings and all the various different things going on and just it's it's a it's incredible all the all the information that's that's out there and has to be organized and manage. I will say that I have unfortunately I've had to cut back on my beer and take because of gout flare ups, but maybe. But um, so the wild basin seltzers man, I love those. Tell me a little bit about the wild basin story in particular as seltzers have completely exploded over the last, I don't know, we could probably do a Google Keyword search volume to see when that really picked up. But it's note, I mean, they're, they're everywhere, and they're the preferred drink of so many people. So tell me about that story. And then also, is there a tasting pairing opportunity to submit to wild basin? Because I have a flavor profile that I really would like to see in that Selter?
Chris Jones:Yeah, I mean, first off, any ideas are welcome, I'd be happy to connect you with our, our VP of brewing, because he's, he's a little mad scientist in his, in his office with a bunch of, you know, various elements, but you know, wild basin really kind of came out of, of, you know, seeing those trends of seeing heart cells are starting to take off. And we're really one of the the first craft entrance into that. But it's a it's a really weird and difficult market, because it's, you know, If we learned anything from last year, and it said, you know, we always need to be improving both the seltzer itself, and then also the flavors and that sort of, like, concentrating a view, and exciting and so, right. So that's definitely, you know, kind of a part of the plan. That's awesome.
Alex Porter:I will, I will submit, I don't want to say it out loud, because I don't want it, maybe somebody else to take it. And then, you know, location three, we're all about the local search the local opportunity, I want to pitch to Coors agency that they should have. I bought the domain court corps near.me, I think probably one. And then it was like, it would just be a list of anywhere nearby, you could buy course from like liquor store, bar, anything, basically just be like a beer finder. And they're like, I don't know, it's like, now they should have, they should have done it. So I know, they still probably couldn't do it. So it's navigating through wild basin found my favorite flavor, which is the lemonade tea, which, so it's incredible. And then it has been nice where to buy. So click on that it pulls up, you know, asked me if I want to give my address or take it. So great, seamless fluid, and then it pulls up all the locations around me that I can go purchase this particular flavor, which is fantastic. So tell me about that aspect of what you're doing. So yeah, the district distribution side?
Chris Jones:Yeah, it's a it's a beast of a data set, where we're basically, you know, constantly querying that data, that database to pull up as much accurate information as we possibly can, you know, like, it's certainly not a real time, real time stock count. But, you know, we know what went out the door, and then you know, what the distributor delivered, but like, there's a, you know, there's definitely some some opportunities to improve. And that's definitely something that I'm leaning into this year to make that process as seamless as possible. If you want to order delivery, let's make sure that that's up front, if you want to go grab something at a bar, you know, basically, however, we can support both, both, you know, our individual brands, but then also, you know, our wholesale and retail partners
Alex Porter:is incredible. I mean, obviously, the name of the game is more and see I'm educating myself here too. Is there like, is it just sales volume? Or is there any kind of like account like, units consumed or shipped? Or do look at? Yeah, Willie,
Chris Jones:we typically look at something either as a, like, from a barrel edge perspective, so like a rock production, you know, or a case equivalent. So, you know, how many cases did we sell from that beer? But yeah, I mean, those are typically like the Brewers Association, for instance, is they measure craft beer volume based on barrel edge. So when those numbers come out of like the, the rankings of craft breweries, you know, across the country, they're ranked by barrel edge output.
Alex Porter:Gotcha. Another extra KPI to to figure out right, just stick put that in the Data Studio, you know, problem says, trending speaking sellers are trending what what's in your short term crystal ball for the kind of the marketing world and digital? What are you looking forward to and your 2023 test stuff out? folder? Because people probably Yeah.
Chris Jones:I think for me, the thing I'm most excited about is there's like just an amazing amount of information that is available from a consumer perspective. And then certainly from a business perspective around the consumption of beer and you know, the events at which that happens and the time that which that happens and like so I'm really looking forward to like, trying to dial in and really reach the crappier consumer at the right time with with the right message. You know, and then just also doing some fun stuff that we're, you know, kind of signing up now. And then, frankly, you know, it's the 20th anniversary of of Dales in a can. So we're, wow, we're sort of the Oskar Blues team is really trying to ramp that up here this year to really talk that up.
Alex Porter:So I'll be happy to attend the 20th anniversary party if you guys need more guests. I'll put I'll trade it for a new flavor combo.
Chris Jones:Sounds good? Sounds good to me.
Alex Porter:Alright, so the Twitter profile if you couldn't find it is the mr. is spelled and where is it? m i s. T. R. Christopher at Mr. Christopher? Yeah. I'm curious about the social copy ideas that the mark the team is going to be
Chris Jones:giving. They it's for Mother's Day posts. And so I just kind of went on a rant so Oh, that's great. And, yeah, that's the sort of handle that you get when you have a boring name like Chris Jones. A lot of them are taking.
Alex Porter:Yeah, but it's fantastic. Quick before we leave, so Oh, my favorite beer of your guys is the Mama's little yella. Pils. Yeah. I'm a pilsner guy. That's a fantastic, fantastic treat. Oskar Blues. If you don't know about Dale's Pale Ale, find yourself some you can look it up online and find the location closest to you to to find it. But absolutely fantastic. How would you describe it deals for someone that hasn't? Because it's one of those unique years for me, and I'll do a maybe I'll try a layman's description. And you tell me what I'm wrong about because I can't do the hoppy beers. Yeah. So it's, it's not hot. So it's an American Pale. I know that not an IPA. And that, to me means it's less Hoppy, but still some like depth of flavor to it.
Chris Jones:Yeah, it's weird. Like, you know, I think when Dale's was first launching, it was a super, super super hoppy beer. I think, you know, as beer tastes and, and recipe development is has evolved over the years, it's now you know, a pretty mildly hot beer by comparison to some of the other stuff that, you know, some of our other breweries are doing or certainly breweries across the country. And so it's really just, like, just nice and healthy. You know, just FYI, definitely a lot more multi characteristic that comes through, but, you know, it's still, it's still my go to in the tap room, you know, quite a bit of the time. So, I usually have to, you know, when I'm ordering one, I'll usually have to tell the bartender that I'm asking for something different than my my usual. So write a lot. I love it.
Alex Porter:Anybody, it's people getting into the digital marketing world. You've had, at this point, a long career in the digital world as it as it stands to most people. What advice would you give someone starting out in this in this digital world?
Chris Jones:I think just not being afraid to ask questions. You know, like, there's obviously there's a lot of, you know, protection around, like, quote, unquote, industry secrets or sort of things, but I've, I've found that like, when I don't know something, if I ask a question of a, you know, a group of people, even if I, you know, relatively just met them, you know, people are more than willing to share and help as long as you're willing to reciprocate that. And so I think just remembering that, like, you know, we're all in this together, even if we're, even if we're competing.
Alex Porter:I love it. Thank you so much. I think we probably went over a lot of time, but it's been really nice catching up with you, and thanks for all of this great information. And yeah, good luck with with Ken archy. And many, many deals and wild basin new flavor to be determined be raised for the next 12 months.
Chris Jones:That sounds good, and thanks for having me.